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eribrav · 01-01-2006, 04:27 PM

[QUOTE=raeanna74]I have been wishing for a wood furnace for our house. I grew up with one and it was so much better, easier to pay our heating/electric bills for the wood rather than gas heat. I hadn't even considered a pellet stove even though I've heard of them. Looking at costs and other aspects it seems like it might be just about the same cost to purchase and have installed a pellet stove as it would be for a wood stove.

What would you estimate is your average winter expenditure of electricity for the stove since it has to use electricity to continue pulling corn from the pellets as it burns the pellets?

I don't see a big jump in electric usage from the stove. The pellets are gravity fed, although an augur helps them along at the proper rate. There's also a blower fan to circulate the heat. I think maybe it increases our electric use by 30 or kW per month. We have REA power, which is very cheap, so the bump in the electric bill is barely noticeable.

How new is your furnace? How frequently do you have to load it with fuel?? How big of a load does your furnace hold?? Do you have a top load or bottom load stove?

This is the third winter we have had it. I fill it iin the morning when I wake up, right after work, and again at bedtime. It holds about 40 pounds of pellets. Most freestanding stoves have larger hoppers and accordingly would need filling less often.

For those who complained that this method of heating would be more hazardous for the environment I found this.

And also learned that "Compared to EPA-certified wood stoves that give off about 5 grams of particulates per hour, pellet stoves have very low particulate emissions, some far less than 1 gram per hour." Home Tips

It seems that I am going to have to consider this possibility for heating more seriously. It seems to be the cheapest and overall possibly the most environmentally sound (Disregarding solar panels, etc.) method of heating my home. If you consider that the fuel is made from recycled materials that might otherwise be wasted and the pollutant output is relatively low compared to other forms of heating - I think this sounds like a great idea.

01-01-2006, 04:27 PM	#15 (permalink)
eribrav Junkie Location: upstate NY	[QUOTE=raeanna74]I have been wishing for a wood furnace for our house. I grew up with one and it was so much better, easier to pay our heating/electric bills for the wood rather than gas heat. I hadn't even considered a pellet stove even though I've heard of them. Looking at costs and other aspects it seems like it might be just about the same cost to purchase and have installed a pellet stove as it would be for a wood stove. What would you estimate is your average winter expenditure of electricity for the stove since it has to use electricity to continue pulling corn from the pellets as it burns the pellets? I don't see a big jump in electric usage from the stove. The pellets are gravity fed, although an augur helps them along at the proper rate. There's also a blower fan to circulate the heat. I think maybe it increases our electric use by 30 or kW per month. We have REA power, which is very cheap, so the bump in the electric bill is barely noticeable. How new is your furnace? How frequently do you have to load it with fuel?? How big of a load does your furnace hold?? Do you have a top load or bottom load stove? This is the third winter we have had it. I fill it iin the morning when I wake up, right after work, and again at bedtime. It holds about 40 pounds of pellets. Most freestanding stoves have larger hoppers and accordingly would need filling less often. For those who complained that this method of heating would be more hazardous for the environment I found this. And also learned that "Compared to EPA-certified wood stoves that give off about 5 grams of particulates per hour, pellet stoves have very low particulate emissions, some far less than 1 gram per hour." Home Tips It seems that I am going to have to consider this possibility for heating more seriously. It seems to be the cheapest and overall possibly the most environmentally sound (Disregarding solar panels, etc.) method of heating my home. If you consider that the fuel is made from recycled materials that might otherwise be wasted and the pollutant output is relatively low compared to other forms of heating - I think this sounds like a great idea.